The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Aster plant, botanically known as Aster ageratoides and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Starshine’.
The objective of the breeding program is to create new pot-type-type Aster cultivars with compact growth habit, attractive ray floret coloration and tolerance to Powdery Mildew.
The new Aster originated from an open-pollination in August, 1999 in Boskoop, The Netherlands of an unnamed seedling selection of Aster ageratoides, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unknown selection of Aster ageratoides, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Aster was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated open-pollination in a controlled environment in Boskoop, The Netherlands in August, 2002.
Asexual reproduction of the new Aster by vegetative cuttings was first conducted in Boskoop, The Netherlands during the spring of 2003. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Aster are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.